This season rests on Lou's head. For the Kovalchuk fiasco and for ignoring his best franchise player since he drafted Patrik Elias and letting him walk based on his ludicrous 1940s free agent negotiating style.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: for a man who fires people as if it were a bodily function, Lou should fire himself for the predicament he put this team in this year.

I vote that we send Get Real to Russia where he can apologize for Kovalchuk all season, in Russian, on Russian forums. That would absolve us of at least two of the bigger fan-related headaches of the last decade.

Nieds was awesome, again, but not a retiree. He willingly departed the Devils who were ready to make him the highest paid player on the roster. Thanks for the rings, Nieds, and I love you, but when you went to Anaheim, you should have sacrificed any chance at getting your jersey in the rafters. Are we going to retire the jersey of every great player that spends substantial time in NJ? That, to me, is something the Rangers do. Not us.

Tortorella's a jackass, but at least he's a real NHL coach. MacLean is clearly not an NHL coach. It was as obvious as day to those just watching the games, nevermind what it must have been to those behind the scenes.